Updated December 8, 2020
Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
Taiwan, which officially calls itself the Republic of China
The KMT maintained authoritarian one-party rule on
(ROC), is an island democracy of 23.6 million people
Taiwan until 1987, when popular pressure forced it to allow
located across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China.
political liberalization. Taiwan held its first direct
U.S.-Taiwan relations have been unofficial since January 1,
parliamentary election in 1992 and its first direct
1979, when the Carter Administration established
presidential election in 1996. The May 2016 inauguration
diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China
of current President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic
(PRC) and broke formal diplomatic ties with self-ruled
Progressive Party (DPP) marked Taiwan’s third peaceful
Taiwan, over which the PRC claims sovereignty. The
transfer of political power from one party to another.
Taiwan Relations Act (TRA, P.L. 96-8; 22 U.S.C. 3301 et
In January 2020 elections, voters elected President Tsai to a
seq.), enacted on April 10, 1979, provides a legal basis for
second four-year term with 57.1% of the vote. The DPP lost
this unofficial bilateral relationship. It also includes
7 seats in the 113-seat legislature, but retained its majority,
commitments related to Taiwan’s security. For discussion
with 61 seats. The KMT now controls 38 seats, a gain of 3.
of economic issues, see CRS In Focus IF10256, U.S.-
The results empowered Tsai to move forward with an
Taiwan Trade Relations, by Karen M. Sutter.
agenda that includes demanding “respect from China” for
Taiwan’s Modern History
what she calls Taiwan’s “separate identity.” Taiwan’s
In 1949, after losing a civil war on mainland China to the
widely lauded response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019
Communist Party of China, the ROC’s ruling party, the
(COVID-19) pandemic has bolstered public support for her.
Kuomintang (KMT), moved the ROC seat of government to
U.S. Commitments Related to Taiwan
Taiwan. The KMT continued to assert that the ROC was the
sole legitimate government of all China. In 1971, however,
The PRC seeks to enforce a “one China principle,” under
U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognized the
which other countries affirm that Taiwan is part of China.
PRC’s representatives as “the only legitimate
The United States adheres to its own “one-China policy,”
representatives of China to the United Nations,” and
which the Trump Administration presents as based on U.S.-
expelled “the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek,” the
PRC joint communiqués concluded in 1972, 1978, and
ROC’s then-leader. Taiwan remains outside the United
1982, the TRA, and “Six Assurances” that President Ronald
Nations. It today claims “effective jurisdiction” over
Reagan communicated to Taiwan in 1982, shortly before
Taiwan, the archipelagos of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu,
the release of the third U.S.-PRC joint communiqué.
and some smaller islands. It also claims disputed islands in
In the communiqués, the United States recognized the PRC
the East and South China Seas.
as the “sole legal government of China”; acknowledged, but
did not affirm, “the Chinese position that there is but one
Figure 1. Taiwan
China and Taiwan is part of China”; and pledged to
maintain only unofficial relations with Taiwan. In the 1982
communiqué, the United States stated “that it intends
gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan.”
Key provisions of the TRA include the following:
 Relations with Taiwan shall be carried out through the
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private
corporation. (AIT Taipei performs many of the same
functions as U.S. embassies elsewhere and is staffed by
U.S. government personnel assigned or detailed to AIT.)
 It is U.S. policy “to maintain the capacity of the United
States to resist any resort to force or other forms of
coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social
or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”
 The United States “will make available to Taiwan such
defense articles and defense services in such quantity as
may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a
sufficient self-defense capability.”

Sources: Graphic by CRS. Map generated by Hannah Fischer using
The 1982 Six Assurances, which the Trump Administration
data from NGA (2017); DoS (2015); Esri (2014); DeLorme (2014).
declassified in 2020, include assurances that in negotiations
with the PRC, the United States did not agree to consult
with the PRC on arms sales to Taiwan, did not agree to set a
https://crsreports.congress.gov

Taiwan: Political and Security Issues
date for ending such arms sales, and did not agree “to take
in office, the Obama Administration notified Congress of
any position regarding sovereignty over Taiwan.”
16 cases with a combined value of about $14 billion. The
U.S. Navy has to date conducted 13 Taiwan Strait transits
In September 2020 Senate testimony, Assistant Secretary of
in 2020, exceeding the previous annual high of 12 in 2016.
State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell said
it is U.S. policy to leave Taiwan’s sovereignty “undecided
The PRC, Taiwan, and “One China”
and to be worked out between the two parties,” meaning
The PRC maintains that mainland China and Taiwan are
Taiwan and the PRC, while insisting that PRC-Taiwan
parts of “one China” whose sovereignty cannot be divided.
differences “be resolved peacefully and through dialogue,
The PRC’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law commits Beijing to
not with coercion or use of force.” The TRA does not
“do its utmost with maximum sincerity to achieve a
require the United States to defend Taiwan, but states that it
peaceful unification” with Taiwan. It states, however, that
is U.S. policy to maintain the capacity to do so. In October
in the case of Taiwan’s “secession” from China, or if the
2020, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien referred
PRC concludes that possibilities for peaceful unification
to, “a lot of ambiguity there about what the United States
have been exhausted, “the state shall employ non-peaceful
would do in response to an attack by China on Taiwan.”
means and other necessary measures to protect China’s
Trump Administration Policy
sovereignty and territorial integrity.” In 2019, PRC leader
Xi Jinping recommitted the PRC to peaceful unification,
The Trump Administration has sought to strengthen
but reserved the option to use force. He called for exploring
bilateral relations with Taiwan, even as the Administration
“a two systems plan for Taiwan,” a reference to an
states that it remains committed to the framework of
arrangement under which mainland China and Taiwan
unofficial U.S.-Taiwan relations. In August 2020, Secretary
would be parts of one country, but maintain different
of Health and Human Services Alex Azar became the first
political and other systems, as in Hong Kong. After China
U.S. cabinet member to visit Taiwan since 2014. In
imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in June
September 2020, Under Secretary of State for Economic
2020, President Tsai declared the approach “not viable.”
Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach became
the highest-ranking State Department official to visit
Unlike her KMT predecessor, President Tsai has not
Taiwan since 1979. In January and May 2020, U.S.
endorsed the “1992 consensus,” under which Taiwan and
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo issued statements
the PRC acknowledged “one China,” but retained their own
congratulating Tsai, respectively, on her reelection and the
interpretations of what it meant. After her reelection, Tsai
start of her second term, making him the highest-level U.S.
said, “We don’t have a need to declare ourselves an
official ever to have issued such statements. The PRC has
independent state. We are an independent country already
urged the United States to “stop official interactions and
and we call ourselves the Republic of China (Taiwan).” The
moves aimed at upgrading substantive relations with
PRC suspended contacts with Taiwan’s government in
Taiwan” and intensified its military activity near Taiwan.
2016 after Tsai declined to endorse the “1992 consensus.”
An increasingly prominent element of U.S. policy is an
Since 2016, the PRC has established diplomatic relations
effort to help Taiwan strengthen its relations with other
with eight countries that previously recognized Taiwan:
countries, particularly the 15 countries that maintain
first the Gambia, then Sao Tome and Principe, Panama, the
diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than the PRC. In
Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, the
2019, Japan joined the United States and Taiwan as a
Solomon Islands, and Kiribati. The PRC has stepped up
formal member of the Global Cooperation and Training
military patrols and exercises around Taiwan, including
Framework, which convenes workshops to share Taiwan’s
sending military aircraft across the median line of the
expertise with other countries. Also in 2019, the United
Taiwan Strait. The PRC has also blocked Taiwan’s
States and Taiwan launched Consultations on Democratic
attendance as an observer at annual World Health Assembly
Governance in the Indo-Pacific Region, to help Indo-Pacific
meetings, which Taiwan attended from 2009 to 2016. The
countries address governance challenges, and a new Pacific
PRC has offered incentives, too: 2018’s “31 measures” and
Islands Dialogue, to help “meet the development needs of
2019’s “26 measures” sought to improve living and
Taiwan’s diplomatic partners in the Pacific.” The United
working conditions for Taiwan people in mainland China.
States is also partnering with Taiwan to provide
Select Legislation in the 116th Congress
development assistance in the Western Hemisphere, home
to nine of Taiwan’s diplomatic partners.
The conference bill for the William M. (Mac) Thornberry
National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021 (H.R.
Although the United States terminated its Mutual Defense
Treaty with Taiwan in 1980, it engages with Taiwan’s
6395) would require an annual briefing to Congress on
Taiwan arms sales and a report on the feasibility of
military through dialogues, training, and arms sales. The
establishing a medical security partnership with Taiwan’s
United States has long called on Taiwan to spend more on
Ministry of Defense. It would also instruct the U.S.
defense. In October 2020, a senior Department of Defense
Executive Director at each international financial institution
official urged Taiwan to prioritize “small dollar investments
to use the voice and vote of the United States to seek to
in lethal capabilities tailored to counter the military threat
Taiwan faces” and “avoid over
ensure that Taiwan nationals are not discriminated against
-investing in areas where
in employment decisions in such institutions and require a
there is less likely to be a return on Taiwan’s limited
related annual report.
defense dollars.” In nearly four years in office, the Trump
Administration has notified Congress of 20 proposed major
Susan V. Lawrence, Specialist in Asian Affairs
Foreign Military Sales cases for Taiwan, with a combined
value of over $18 billion. By comparison, over eight years
IF10275
https://crsreports.congress.gov

Taiwan: Political and Security Issues


Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10275 · VERSION 49 · UPDATED